Erzsébet Szőnyi

Composer, music pedagogue. Her style cannot be classified in any of the trends of 20th-century Hungarian music history, and her approach is characterized by both conservatism and openness to new trends. She was a world-renowned mediator of Kodály's method of music education. She began her studies at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest in 1942, then in 1947 she studied for a year with at the Conservatoire in Paris, where Tony Aubin, Olivier Messiaen and Nadia Boulanger were her masters. From 1945 to 1981 she was professor at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. Encouraged by Kodály, she took part in the reorganization of music pedagogy in Hungary. Her main works include 4 operas, musicals, ballet music, children's pieces, oratorios, cantatas, orchestral works (among other: Divertimento 1 and 2, Musica Festiva, Allegro per orchestra), works for piano and organ, chamber works, works for solo instruments, songs, choral works. Her works were recorded by Hungaroton.